Plasma process design for material surface treatment in the nano-scale regime utilizing dielectric-constant analysis techniques

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

We investigated the mechanism of a structural change on the plasma-exposed Si surface. We established a model clarifying quantitatively the effects of ion energy distribution function on the plasma-exposed Si surface structure (damaged-layer structure). The model predicts that the thickness of damaged-layer strongly depends on the average energy of ions from the plasma under an applied rf bias, while it is a weak function of bias frequency. Novel techniques enabling the optical and electrical analyses of the surfaces were developed and used in the present research. Experiments verified the model predictions in the case of the Si surface exposed to Ar plasma. The present model is applicable to optimizing various plasma treatments of materials and devices in the future.